


Twice

by Cosmicfruit



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-23 00:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18538570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmicfruit/pseuds/Cosmicfruit
Summary: Only Kairi came back alone. What happened to Sora?





	Twice

**Author's Note:**

> This is a giftfic for Ness, for the easter gift exchange. Aoi Nikko is my old pen name from FF/AFF.net

Twice

By Aoi Nikko

 

 

What a disappointment.

Riku fell back against his bed with a sigh, listening to the muffled sounds of Terra, Aqua and Ventus giggling the room over. They were still fooling around, even after all the crazy activities on the beach they’d had with everyone. That was good, they needed something like that.

Everybody did.

Riku remembered calling everyone together in an attempt to light the way back for Sora and Kairi—what beacon was brighter than bringing together everyone whose hearts Sora had touched? At least, that had been his thinking. That doofus couldn’t resist goofing off and hanging with his friends.

But only Kairi had returned. Alone. And the tears in her eyes had told him everything he’d needed to know. Sora was still adrift.

Riku threw an arm over his eyes with a sigh.

“Where _are_ you Sora?”

Almost as if in answer, a cat meowed loudly outside, calling desperately, as if searching for someone. Riku lifted his arm to glance at his window a moment, then reached over to turn off the light. “Yeah…me too, little guy.” Fixing his eyes on the ceiling, he reached out a hand, spreading his fingers as he thought about his best friend.

“May your heart be your guiding key.”

He clenched his fist, his eyes narrowing.

“Tch…”

Tomorrow… He’ll think of something tomorrow. Turning his back to the window, he closed his eyes to try and get some sleep.

-o-o-

“..ku….hey! _Riku_!”

Feeling someone shaking his shoulder, Riku give a sleepy murmur and swatted at the hand.

“Come on, Mickey, this can wait ‘til morning, can’t it?”

“Do I _sound_ like Mickey?!”

Wait, what—!

Sitting up suddenly, he grabbed the shoulders of the person leaning over him from his still open window. “ _Sora?!_ ”

“Whoa! Take it easy, Riku!”

Riku stared in shock, but the blue eyes that stared back at him were real. This was Sora. He had found his way back, after all! “I just—Kairi came back alone and so…”

“Yeah. I found her and sent her back. But it’s a little more complicated for me.” Giving Riku a cheesy grin, he looked to the side, rubbing a finger under his nose.

Riku climbed to his knees, tilting his head, trying to look Sora in his face. “Complicated?”

“Yeah, you see—” A tiny, but sharp meow cut Sora off as a fluffy head peered over his shoulder, bright green eyes leveled on Riku. “Oh, I guess we woke him up, heh heh!”

Riku poked a finger toward the little creature sitting in Sora’s hood of all places. “Is that a cat?” It then promptly bit him. “Ow! Hey!” He scoffed at Sora who began laughing. “It’s not funny. Where did he come from?”

“Oh, I found him wandering around, and he looked cold, so I brought him with me.” He reached back and gently ruffled the cat’s white, tan and black fur, and it moodily ducked back into Sora’s hood. “He seemed friendly when I picked him up…”

Rubbing his finger, Riku wondered if it was the same cat he’d heard earlier. It’s just like Sora to befriend any and everything he came across if it was possible. “Oh sure, he lets _you_ pet him.”

“ _I_ didn’t poke him. He doesn’t like it when you do _that_.”

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Riku’s expression became serious. “Hey Sora. Earlier, you said—“

“Oh, right!” Sora slammed a fist in his palm, and his eyes grew wide. “I almost forgot! Riku, I need your help with something. Can you come with me for a moment?”

“Sora, you goofball…” As if he would ever tell Sora no. Riku gave Sora a soft smile. “Of course.”

“Great! I knew I could count on you, Riku!” And without explaining anything further, Sora grabbed his best friend’s wrist and dragged him out of the window. Though the reaction was strange, Riku followed, noticing the green eyed creature staring daggers at him from Sora’s hood. What’s up with this cat?! “Where are we going, anyway?”

“To the beach,” came the simple reply. The tiny calico gave a low, warning growl at him, but Riku decided to ignore it for now.

“Why the beach?”

Sora just laughed. “You’ll see.”

 

-o-o-

The beach by the pier was awash with moonlight, illuminated by a pale blue light that was almost as unnatural as it was ethereal. There was something about the air that made the hair on the back of Riku’s neck stand up. Something wasn’t right, but….

“Hey…” Riku called out, reaching out a hand toward Sora. “Sora? What’s…?”

Sora’s keyblade flashed into existence, and he looked back over his shoulder at Riku and offered a big grin. “Ha, ha!” Pointing the keyblade towards the moon, it gave a bright pulse before flooding the area with a blinding light. Riku covered his eyes, but he felt Sora take his hand and gently pull him away. “It’s all right.”

The light faded, and Riku was able to lower the arm he had shielding his face. “What’s that supposed to—” Glancing around, he was surprised to see twinkling strings of lights connecting familiar structures and colorful balloons swaying on thin tethers. “Traverse Town?”

“Yeah, the fourth district.” Sora moved forward a few feet, looking up into the starry sky. “This town only shows up when someone needs it, but there’s nobody here except us right now.”

Riku furrowed his brow, then moved toward Sora, reaching out a hand to catch his shoulder, but an angry pair of green eyes and flattened ears emerged from the back of the smaller boy’s hood.

“So—geh!” Riku narrowed his eyes at the calico cat. “Seriously, what is _with_ this cat? You even have a name for him?”

“Huh?” Sora turned, tilting his head at Riku, then glanced back at the annoyed creature making himself comfortable in his hood. “Oh—I guess I should give him a name, huh? Hmm…” Resting his arms behind his head, he swayed back and forth a bit. “You know, he’s a lot like how you used to be.”

Riku turned his annoyed gaze on Sora, placing his hands on his hips when Sora chuckled at him. “Oh yeah, how so?”

Petting the cat gently, which caused him to stop glaring at Riku, Sora looked back at his friend with a smile. “He’s been awfully protective ever since I found him. Doesn’t let anyone get close at all.”

“I was never _that_ bad.”

Sora just laughed and turned away to run down the stairs near them. “Chikai.”

Riku’s eyes followed Sora as he ran off, and his eyes met the cat’s that was bouncing in Sora’s hood, and for a second there seemed to be an understanding between them. Looking around the deserted area, he frowned before following after his friend.

 

-o-o-

It didn’t take all that long for Riku to get to the bottom of the stairs, but when he did, Sora was nowhere to be seen. His heart tightening in panic, he immediately called out in search, “Sora!!” Where could he have gotten to so quickly? He had only paused for a second!

Just as he was getting ready to run off and search, there was a sharp, demanding meow behind him. Chikai sat with his tail curled around his body, staring at Riku as if he were the dumbest person alive. Once noticed, the cat simply ran off, and not having any other leads, Riku chased after it. Sora soon came into view, standing at a stall of some sort, as if ordering something. Were there people here after all? He jogged over to Sora, peeking into the stall…but it was empty.

“Sora, what--?”

“Here!” Giving Riku a bright grin, Sora shoved a stick of sea-salt ice cream into his face.

“What’s this now?” Taking the offered gift without hesitation, Riku only glanced at it before biting into it, the salty-sweet taste surprising him a bit.

“It’s good, right? I had this back on Radiant Garden way back when.” Taking a bite of the ice cream, Sora looked down in thought. “Or was it before…?” At his feet, Chikai meowed and leapt into his hood, settling comfortably. Laughing, Sora rubbed the back of his head. “What am I saying, it was definitely at Radiant Garden. Got a little scatterbrained for a second there.”

Something wasn’t right, and Sora wasn’t telling him everything. Why were they here? Was Sora in trouble somehow? Staring at his unfinished ice cream, he curled his fingers into a fist and looked back at his friend, who was still happily eating his ice cream. “Sora. Why are we here, really? Is something wrong?”

Pausing mid-bite, Sora glanced over at Riku and then lowers his ice cream, looking away. He took a breath and faced the end of the street where he had come. “There’s….a door here I can’t open by myself. My keyblade does nothing to it alone.”

“I see…” Looking thoughtful, Riku nodded and moved to Sora’s side, resting a hand on his shoulder, something Chikai seemed okay with. Surprised, but not calling attention to it, he just gave the smaller boy a reassuring smile. “Well, let’s go take a look at it.”

Not looking at him, Sora gave a small nod. “Ok.”

 

-o-o-

 

The door in question happened to be the now tightly shut doors to the fifth district. Moving over to them confirmed that they were locked tight, but Riku spotted the reason right away. “Oh, there’s two keyholes to this door now. It must take both of us.” He summoned Braveheart as he walked back over to Sora, ruffling his hair when he saw the downcast look on his face. “Hey, what’s the matter all of a sudden? You wanted to open this, right?”

Sora remained silent a moment later, staring at his shoes, and Chikai rubbed his fuzzy head against Sora’s neck, giving a soft, encouraging meow. Sora looked up at the door, then finally, right at Riku. “That one won’t work.”

“Huh?” Looking back at the door for a moment, he turned his body fully to face Sora. “How do you—” But then he realized what Sora meant.

“Nothing I tried worked. I thought I was going to be stuck here forever. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. But then I said your name.”

Riku tilted his head slightly, but never broke eye contact with Sora. “What—”

“As soon as I did, the second keyhole showed up. And then I realized what was wrong. I have made a lot of friends over my time with the keyblade. But before I met any of them, there was you. You’ve always been there for me, even when we fought. At one point, I think…it just became something at the back of my mind. It was…just something I _knew_ …” Sora turned to the door, his eyes filled with determination, but also, an understanding. “That light I saw…that I kept seeing…It was _you_ , the whole time.”

“Sora…”

“I don’t really know what to make of it right now.” Looking down again, he ran his fingers through his hair. Riku started to reach out, but stopped himself, curling his fingers into a fist and standing straight. Sora had to figure this out for himself, no matter how much Riku wanted to help him. He gave Sora a nudge instead.

“Hey. Let’s open this up, ok?”

Sora lifted his head and perked up, his smile returning and he gave Riku his customary bright grin. “Right!”

Together they reached out, powers melding together with a familiarity that was both equal parts comforting and frightening. Light and darkness both connecting with equal strength to summon two keyblades—two halves of the same whole, a Mirage Split to bring Nightmare’s End. The doors seemed to shudder before they were blown open before the combined keyblade’s might, leaving not the fifth district beyond, but a bright golden light.

“Riku, thank you.” Sora stepped forward into that light, pausing to look over his shoulder. “For everything you’ve sacrificed for me. For being my best friend.”

His heart giving a thump, Riku reached out to stop Sora, not knowing where those doors would take him, or when he’d see his best friend again. “Sora, wait!!”

“See you real soon!” Sora said with a soft, fond smile, his eyes on Riku as the doors began to close. “May your heart be your guiding key.”

The doors shut, and the town vanished into darkness. Riku stood there, staring at the spot where the doors had been. “Sora…”

The ground lost its substance then, and Riku fell into oblivion.

 

-o-o-

 

Taking a startled breath, Riku opened his eyes and sat up, looking around in alarm. Muffled laughter from the room reached his ears and he realized it was Terra, Aqua, and Ven. He was back in his room.

“A dream…”

Or a nightmare…?

A soft meow caught his attention, and, looking over, he saw a small calico cat sitting on his windowsill where Sora had appeared in his dream, those green eyes staring at Riku with some strange kind of acceptance. Among the white, tan, and black splotches, one of them looked heartbreakingly familiar. A stylized heart was displayed on the tiny creature’s back leg, one Riku hadn’t seen because Sora’s hood had hidden it.

Chikai was a dream eater. One who could allow Sora to meet with Riku when the former needed him.

As if knowing Riku finally learned the truth about him, Chikai gave a loud meow before turning to leap out of the window and into the cool night air. Riku smiled and lay back in his bed on his back, once again reaching to the ceiling, but this time with a determined smile.

 

_See you real soon!_

 

Right.

“May my heart…”


End file.
